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India buys, refines and sells Russian oil to the EU
With its sixth sanctions package, the EU has imposed a far-reaching oil embargo against Russia. For the time being, it affects imports delivered by tankers, while oil is still allowed to flow through pipelines. India now seems to benefit from the embargo against the sea route. In any case, the oil embargo has the loophole…
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The back and forth about the nuclear phase-out
As already described in our article “The economic miracle brings nuclear power plants“, the expansion of nuclear power plants boomed in the 1970s. After the two oil crises, nuclear power plants were supposed to guarantee more independence from foreign energy sources. Therefore, in 1974, eleven nuclear power plants were in operation in the Federal Republic…
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Energy transition into a dead end – coal
Lignite is the only energy source worth mentioning that is available in large quantities for electricity production in Germany. With lignite, Germany’s electricity demand could be covered by at least one third, largely independently of foreign countries. However, with the phase-out of coal for the energy transition, the government has already taken many lignite-fired power…
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Esken wants driving ban to punish oil companies
The mineral oil companies are at least not passing the tank rebate on to consumers in full. The fuel rebate is not working the way the government thought it would. That is why SPD leader Saskia Esken now wants to discuss driving bans and speed limits to punish the oil companies. Reduction of the energy…
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Russia reduces gas supply to Germany
Russia has cut gas deliveries via the Nord-Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline by 40 percent. Gazprom justifies the step with repair and maintenance work for which important spare parts from the German Siemens Group are missing. This means that about 67 million cubic metres of natural gas are missing to fill the gas storage facilities…
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Tank rebate trickles away: Habeck powerless against oil companies
The fuel rebate was actually supposed to relieve citizens of the extremely increased fuel prices. But the rebate has not reached consumers. The oil companies simply do not pass it on at the pumps. This is primarily also due to the fact that this was not stipulated in the relevant law. With the fuel rebate,…
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Energy transition into a dead end – hydrogen
As already described in the article “Energiewende in eine Sackgasse -Stromspeicher” (Energy transition into a dead end – electricity storage), our politicians are relying on hydrogen for the energy transition on a grand scale. They want to use hydrogen not only to produce electricity, but also to run blast furnaces in the steel industry and…
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Ex-chief of the Nuclear Regulation Authority: Japan must restart nuclear power plants
Lawmakers in Japan call for faster restart of nuclear plants amid energy crisis. Japan’s government must do more to win public support for restarting nuclear power plants. The energy crisis is putting nuclear power in the spotlight, says the industry’s former top regulator. “The government must face the people and have a proper discussion.” Shunichi…
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EU decision: End of the combustion engine by 2035
The EU directive on CO₂ limits stipulates that no new cars and vans with combustion engines may be registered in the European Union from 2035. If this directive remains unchanged, this could have far-reaching consequences: A boomerang for climate protection may be looming. No compromises with the combustion engine In the second week of June…
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Japan: Residents should save electricity to prevent blackouts
Japan is stepping up its appeal to citizens and businesses to save electricity. The country is facing an energy supply shortage and escalating fuel import costs this summer. In addition, the yen has fallen sharply. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida convened a national meeting to discuss the outlook for electricity supply. The government…
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Habeck’s plans for the energy transition: Wind turbines on every doorstep?
The expansion of wind power is not progressing. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Grüne) has now presented a plan to accelerate the expansion of wind power. Among other things, the distance rules to residential areas are to be abolished if necessary. Does Habeck now want wind turbines on every doorstep? Conservationists fear great legal…
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Energy agency warns of fuel shortage
Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, warns: Europe could run out of fuel this summer with the start of the holiday season. The energy expert sees the current energy crisis as much greater than in the two oil crises of 1973 and 1979/80, which is why he is calling on European countries to…
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Energy transition into a dead end – electricity storage systems
In his programme for the decarbonisation of Germany, Economics Minister Habeck relies on the rapid expansion of solar and wind power plants. However, since these only produce electricity when weather conditions permit, electricity storage facilities are to temporarily store surplus electricity and release it back into the grid when demand increases. Our guest author Hans…
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The liberalisation of the electricity market
With the nuclear power plants, a monopoly of a few large electricity suppliers soon formed. The local energy suppliers were responsible for the entire process, from the generation of electricity, the distribution via their own distribution network to the billing of consumption with their customers. In this process, they had the local monopoly from power…
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Lindner wants to discuss the use of nuclear power
At the end of the year, the last three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany will finally be taken off the grid. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner now wants to discuss their continued use of nuclear power. This will add a lot of fuel to the fire in the new government with traffic lights. A…